The Palm Court Arts Complex is home to the Great Park Gallery and the Great Park Studio. The Palm Court’s re-purposed military structures now form a cultural campus supporting the development of a fresh approach to establishing an interdisciplinary, public arts program.
Learn more about exhibitions at the Irvine Fine Arts Center.
Learn more about Art at City Hall exhibitions.
Thursdays & Fridays: Noon–4 p.m.
Saturdays & Sundays: 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
Free Admission
Exhibition: May 17–July 26
Opening Reception: Sunday, May 17, 1–3 p.m.
GAME! Basketball and Contemporary Art celebrates basketball as a source of creative expression and community connection. Anchored by the renovation of the Great Park’s four basketball courts—featuring original, site-specific art by California artist, Katy Ann Gilmore—the exhibition showcases a selection of contemporary artists from the book Common Practice: Basketball and Contemporary Art who explore the culture and aesthetics of basketball, alongside a survey of Project Backboard’s national and international court renovations.
Project Backboard is an Irvine-based non-profit organization that repairs and resurfaces public basketball courts with large-scale, site-specific artworks. Transforming court surfaces into vibrant works of art, Project Backboard aims to strengthen communities, enhance park safety, encourage multi-generational play, and inspire creative and thoughtful engagement with public space. Since its founding in 2015, Project Backboard has renovated over 100 courts in more than twenty-five U.S. states, as well as in Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, and Portugal, in collaboration with artists such as Nina Chanel Abney, Jason REVOK, and Andy Warhol.
Artwork Credit: Katy Ann Gilmore
ALL AGES | GREAT PARK | NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Saturday, April 11 | Sunday, May 17 | 1–3 p.m. | Great Park Palm Court Arts Complex
The Great Park Palm Court Arts Complex presents a live music series, Jazz in the Palm Court. Inspired by a diverse range of composers and musicians, this event echoes the rich traditions and wide stylistic spectrum of jazz — from the soulful sounds of blues and swing to the bold innovations of bebop and contemporary jazz. Bring folding chairs and blankets for seating around the Palm Court.
Saturday, April 11, Noon–3 p.m. | Great Park Studio
Participants can explore the artistic and structural possibilities of everyday paper through self guided techniques like cutting, folding, bending, and layering. Learn how these basic actions can be combined to create personalized animal characters. Once your creations are complete, bring them to life in fantastical mini landscapes by artist Vonn Sumner and capture your work in a playful photo op, sharing your craft and photography skills with #ArtsInIrvine! Bringing together paper craft, sculpture, art direction, and photography, this all-ages event offers a fun, group-friendly activity in visual storytelling through both two-dimensional and three dimensional art forms.
The Great Park Studio is a creative flex space that offers camps and classes, special events, and private rentals. Studio camps and classes cover educational topics such as chess, engineering, science, and more. All current camps and classes can be viewed at yourirvine.org (Open in new window), or browse the current digital edition of Inside Irvine (Open in new window). Special events include enhancement activities that compliment Great Park Gallery exhibitions. Information regarding private rentals at the Studio and Great Park can be viewed here (Open in new window).
Thursdays & Fridays: Noon–4 p.m.
Saturdays & Sundays: 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
Free Admission
*Great Park’s Hangar 244 is subject to closures due to private event rentals and/or larger city-wide events. For building closure status, please call 949-724-6599.
In 1993, Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro was designated for closing by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission and all of its activities were to be transferred to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. The station officially closed on July 2, 1999.
Since 2002, the Legacy Project has documented the transformation of the former Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro into the Orange County Great Park. They have created more than 200,000 images and famously turned a giant jet hangar into the world’s largest camera and used it to take the world’s largest picture.
These photos capture the Flying Bull insignia around the military base and its buildings.
A Guide to Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro is a documentary about the history of the region.
This 9-minute archive will take you on a retrospective journey from the early days of the Irvine family’s prodigious ranching and agricultural projects, to the coming of World War II and the subsequent arrival of Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro.
The film screens every 20 minutes in the History Room hallway of Hangar 244.
The Flying Bull
In 1943 Walt Disney designed the El Toro Flying Bull logo for Marine Corps Air Station El Toro. Walt Disney Productions created approximately 1,200 designs during World War II for both American and Allied military units. In 1993, Marine Corps Air Station El Toro was designated for closing by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission and all of its activities were to be transferred to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. The station officially closed on July 2, 1999. These photos, captured by the Legacy Project, document the Flying Bull insignia in various locations of MCAS El Toro.
Opening El Toro
Construction of Marine Corps Air Station El Toro began on August 3, 1942 on land previously owned by the Irvine Company. The runways and taxiways were completed by December 1, 1942 and all squadron hangars were complete by January 15, 1943. These photos, taken by Bob Blankman, a history archivist and member of the first unit stationed at El Toro, capture the building of the base.
Coordinates
Since 2002, the Legacy Project has documented the transformation of the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro into the Orange County Great Park. They have created over 200,000 images and famously turned a giant jet hangar into the world’s largest camera and used it to take the world’s largest picture. This photography collection showcases 18 former MCAS El Toro buildings and sites, accompanied by a large-scale historic map of the base highlighting the coordinates and building numbers represented in each photo. The Legacy Project is comprised of artists Mark Chamberlain, Clayton Spada, Jacques Garnier, Robert Johnson, and Douglas McCulloh.
Life on the Base: MCAS El Toro
The day to day for El Toro service members included the expected activities of life on a military base, however their free time and recreational activities were fun, diverse and similar to Great Park visitors today. The images on display, courtesy of the First American OC Historical Photo Archive and the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum, capture life in the early days of MCAS El Toro. Originally exhibited in the 2023 Great Park Gallery exhibition Life on the Base: MCAS El Toro curated by Cynthia Castaneda.
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